Historiated Initial (E) Excised from the Colonna Missal: The Martyrdom of Saint Stephen (c. 1532): Art, History and Details

Historiated Initial (E) Excised from the Colonna Missal: The Martyrdom of Saint Stephen (c. 1532) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Apollonio de' Bonfratelli (Italian).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This initial was once part of a manuscript missal (a service book for the altar) made for Cardinal Pompeo Colonna, probably in the year of his death. The letter E is decorated with gold arabesque and rope-work patterns evocative of Renaissance goldsmithing. At the center is a small pen-and-ink drawing representing the death of Saint Stephen, the Christian Church's first martyr. The text introduced by this initial comes from the Offertory of the Mass for the Feast of Saint Stephen (December 26), and would have read, Elegerunt Apostoli Stephanum (And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and the Holy Ghost). The illuminator, Apollonio de' Bonfratelli, was active at the papal court where he decorated manuscripts for Popes Pius IV and V as well as other members of the Church hieiarchy.

Object facts

• Title: Historiated Initial (E) Excised from the Colonna Missal: The Martyrdom of Saint Stephen
• Date: c. 1532
• Creator attribution: Apollonio de' Bonfratelli (Italian)
• Culture: Italy, Rome
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: ink, tempera, and liquid gold on vellum
• Dimensions: Sheet: 10 x 10 cm (3 15/16 x 3 15/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1985.140

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.